Hemingway Outpoints S.F.’s Miller in Olympic Trials Opener

Pittsburgh's Tika Hemingway (left) defeated S.F.'s Raquel Miller in the Olympic Trials opener. (Norcalboxing.net)

By Ryan Maquiñana

Norcalboxing.net

Pittsburgh’s Tika Hemingway defeated San Francisco’s Raquel Miller by a 16-10 decision in the middleweight division’s opening round of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team Trials.

The bout, which took place at the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, Wash., was marked by inside fighting, as both women were penalized two points apiece for holding.

“Raquel’s disappointed, but she’s O.K.,” trainer Ben Bautista told Norcalboxing.net after the clash. "She did well given the other girl’s advantage in experience. One thing is that I wanted her to not get unglued after the point deduction, and she stayed focused, so I’m proud of her.”

Miller (right) tags Hemingway in the second round with a right cross. (Norcalboxing.net)

The tournament is double-elimination, so in an all-California showdown, Miller will now face Tiffanie Ward of Hacienda Heights on Tuesday night in the challengers' bracket.

“We’re still in it, and we still got action,” Bautista added. “We’ll look at the tape and see what we got to do. [Ward] can hit with the right hand over the top, so we got to be ready for that.”

In her next bout, Hemingway will enter the winners' bracket against San Diego's Tiffanie Hearn, who beat Ward by a score of 18-17.

In the other 165-pound scraps, Baltimore's Franchon Crews was upset by Claressa Shields of Flint, Michigan, by a count of 31-19, and Andrecia Wasson of Centerline, Michigan, took a 34-9 decision over Alexandria, Virginia's Dara Shen.

Shields will face Wasson in the winners' bracket on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Shen reportedly has pulled out of the tournament following the loss, meaning that Crews will automatically advance to Wednesday's challengers' bracket semifinal against the winner of Miller vs. Ward.

For a link to Tuesday night's action, which starts at 7 p.m. PST, go to http://www.tinyurl.com/millertuesday.

Boxing correspondent Ryan Maquiñana is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.